The four western provinces have chosen to allow private retail operators to sell cannabis, while Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island plan to sell it only through existing provincial liquor control outlets.

Newfoundland and Labrador has issued a call for interested retailers.

Canadians will have to wait until at least early August – and maybe as late as early September – to legally purchase recreational marijuana.

That’s the bottom line after senators struck a deal to hold a final vote by June 7 on the legislation that will usher in the legal cannabis regime.